Southwest is the only airline that flies from New England to Columbus, Ohio where my mother lives We live equidistantly, a 2 hour drive, between Boston Logan and Providence TF Green airports. SW had a direct flight to Columbus from Boston for a few years, but they stopped that. Now I have to fly out of Providence with a 3-4 hour layover (at best) through Baltimore. I can fly from Logan and be in Amsterdam or Paris faster than I could be in Columbus, Ohio, The trip really sucks. And flight delays enter into the whole mess of the equation. In 43 years of marriage, I have never gone home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. That's just nuts. I visit my dear mother at the end of March and in October.

I used to enjoy flying Muse Air from Dallas to Houston. Such a civilized little airline it was. Southwest bought them, saying oh, it’s such a civilized airline, we won’t change a thing, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, etc. Within a year the comfortable seats, assigned seating, orderly boarding, pleasant staff and crew, attractive uniforms, elegant colors, were all gone. Back to hot pants on stewardesses instead of suits on flight attendants.

The fact my child was only waiting on ONE crew member to get there, and had their flight cancelled, as was the issue for so many WN flights, is what caused the outrage. The storm didn't cause the cancellations. No other airline had this issue. It's infuriating.

To blame an airline is very ignorant and short sighted. The weather was not with many, many DIED and we are trying to make a case for SW ruining our PARTIES!? GET OVER IT people. I want these entities to err on the side of SAFE and LIFE. To plan gatherings when you KNOW weather could be a thing is totally on the planners! My youngest spent Friday warm in a church with food and a soft sofa. SOOOOO blessed her 'determination' to get home for a holiday did not turn into anymore of a nightmare than it was. When we gather as family it's a CELEBRATION. A date on a calendar should never dictate!!

I was house sitting for a family. They got home two days later than planned after Southwest cancelled their flights.

Some kids in my child's marching band didn't make it back in time for the playoff game.

Yes, Southwest was the problem. Their system is out of date. The other airlines were able to catch up from the weather.

Aw! I hate that adella. My child missed out on the state championship marching contest their senior year. That's more of can't be recreated. I get it for your kids. I'm so sorry!

My one friend spent three days stuck in Denver. Fortunately she and DH had inly carryon luggage but not appropriate clothes for CO, since they had been in CA. They did get a hotel room and made the best of it. Flew the rest of the way home on United.

Saddest thing was people travelng with wheelchairs or very young children who spent days and nights in the airport. What misery.

I agree, that would be so miserable. What a fiasco. And the luggage. Oh my, what a mess.

That's another thing I got lucky on, and I am so grateful for, kiddo could stay at the airport hotel. A five minute car ride.

Maybe you should read up on the "situation" Arcy before calling people ignorant.

I'm still very angry with SW, as they kept our money for a flight to NOLA in Mar. of '20.

I bet there will be a class action you can join sjerin

While this is the biggest airline fail for years, flying during the holidays has always had problems. There is a reason that travel advisors suggest flying at that time of the year people should expect to have problems. They also suggest arriving the day before any event. My advisor has alway suggested not only flying the day before but taking an early flight as early flights, not the first one of the morning, are more likely to happen in busy travel seasons.

Early as possible and, if you can, a direct flight.

Unfortunately Canada wasn't immune to this problem either. Sunwing airlines who are a vacation package airline with flights to sun destinations (Mexico and the Caribbean) stranded thousands of passengers in these destinations for days with close to no effort to get them back and blaming the snowstorms in Vancouver and Toronto. And for those of you who say it could be worse - they couldn't stay in their resorts because other vacationers were already booked.

This is just one story

https://globalnews.ca/news/9379261/sunwing-saskatchewan-stranded-passengers-recovery-edmonton/

At one point the NFL team the Patriots sent their plane down to bring tourists back to Quebec.

And lost/missing luggage? There are currently 2000 pieces of luggage at Vancouver that are missing their owners.

My sons and their partners and 22 of their closest friends flew down to Mexico (Cancun) to a resort for a friends wedding. They flew down on Boxing Day and back yesterday. They flew Air Canada, using only carry-on, Vancouver-Toronto-Mexico and back, and had no issues. They were lucky.

How's deregulation of the airline industry working out for consumers?!

Quite well by most accounts. More flights and (but for the global crude oil market price effects) better pricing.

Southwest's problems, which it has been warned about by unions, employees and governmental agencies alike for some years now, is that it has not upgraded its internal operations software and any time there are even slight hiccups in weather or other flight disrupting causes, its operations crater and it takes many days to reset. One example mentioned in a recent news article - Southwest's software has trouble tracking where deployed employees are located. When things start to fray at the seams, they ask employees to stay off the internal systems and instead call in to let the company know where they are. But then the lines get too jammed and calls aren't answered timely.

Did you have something else in mind?

My niece is pregnant with their first child. They went to visit his parents for Christmas. She had a return flight on the 26th (just her because she had to return for work). Her flight was canceled and she didn’t fly home till late Tuesday. She *still* does not have her luggage back which had all her maternity pants that fit aside from the pair she put on last Monday!

Lessons learned the hard way... I carry a change of clothes in carry on and eyeglasses and contacts when I fly. I also bring snacks even for a 1 hour flight.

My good friend was flying from Denver to Sacramento on the 23rd. After 10 delays her flight was cancelled until the 25th. She still does not have her luggage.

January 1982 I was expecting first child. Packed maternity clothes to fly with husband from Chicago to Upstate New York. Big Name airlines, I forget who, lost my luggage and brand new wardrobe.

It can happen any time.

I have a non-Southwest Southwesat story.

I stopped flying Southwest a long time ago, 25 years ago or more. At the time, as a business traveler and also when personal travel involved kids, I couldn't put up with its amateurish customer service practices. Want to reserve a seat? Sorry, we don't do that. Want to not be the last person to board? At one time, no boarding priorities were offered, I think you needed to call in or arrive at the airport early, I don't remember which. Stand in line to wait for boarding or risk losing your place.

Southwest's reaction to delayed flights or other service problems? Have the flight attendants tell jokes or sing songs. Having continuous timeliness or service problems? Make sure the flight attendants had an adequate supply of different songs and jokes.

At a time when other airlines seemed to try harder to be reliable and consistent, Southwest tried hard to offer the lowest prices without regard to compromised service.

It always seemed like an airline for people who didn't leave home much and had little experience with air travel. Flexible personal schedules and no commitments to meet. I know it has tried to provide a few more amenities but still, having to check in 24 hours in advance to avoid a middle seat on a crowded flight, or pay for priority? No thanks. For domestic travel, there are enough other and better choices.

But I have flown Southwest plenty, and they've been pretty good for little direct flights here. Always use Early Bird, so I don't care about seating, I end up fine. From here to Orlando? Use them every time. It was a little Raleigh to Nashville flight. I thought it'd be ok. I told her she could pick either American or Southwest since they were the exact same price and left at the exact same time. Oh well.

And I've traveled so much, I refuse to check a bag for anything less than five days. I'm an efficient packer. It all fits in my backpack that fits under the seat. That, and my purse, I'm good to go.

I'm also a Southwest victim. Stuck in upstate NY for days now, and at some point, it was better to cancel another flight to come back up here to drive down. So what started out as a white Christmas vacation for 5 days, has turned into 16 days, working remotely, and many, many purchases to make my life "normal", including a laptop, clothing, medications, shipping costs to get things sent from my Florida home, and missing several events with my family and friends. I was even to have company in my home for 3 days. Oh, and I forgot (how could I?) Bailey - 11 extra days of dog-sitting services. Yeah, I'm pissed.

My mother taught me well, to always carry a change of underwear, a toothbrush, contact lens solution, cash, and a sandwich. When I lived away from home and flew several times a year, all those came in handy often!

Although, barbaratpa, yikes! Not sure where in upstate NY you are, but I’m sure it’s beautiful. I hope you are in comfortable accommodations. But would you be able to drive, or take a train, home? When DH was stuck in Atlanta on 9/11, he finally rented a car a couple of days later and drove home to Chicago.

"And I've traveled so much, I refuse to check a bag for anything less than five days."

Right before covid i spent 3 weeks in Europe with just a carry-on. And a smaller one at that. 19" vs 22". And my purse. There's laundry facilities everywhere in the world. I hate hauling around a huge suitcase. I follow Rick Steves travel philosophy. No one goes to Europe and wishes they would have packed more. An hour or so of my time to hit a laundromat is way easier than dragging around a huge suitcase.

sephia, two of my girlfriends did that this past summer. Toured the entire UK for weeks, and visited laundromats among the way. No one "needs" more clothes. 😉

We travel with one wheeled suitcase each and backpack for other things. About a week's worth of multipurpose clothing. I've been to laundromats in over a dozen countries and the problem sometimes can be 1) finding them, especially when not in a large city 2) figuring out the instructions in Greek or Serbian or Portuguese or ? 3) waiting for hours and hours while Eurowashers and Eurodryers do their thing. Been there, done that. Having left my younger adult years behind, I'm less patient and also more able to afford hotel laundry services. That's what we use now when travelling.

My gf got a call from Southwest and they found one of three suitcases, She lives in Kansas, flew out of Denver, flew to Sacramento, the bag is in Las Vegas.

@bfelton Your sons and friends were lucky. I vowed 20 years ago to never fly Air Canada again and I have not. They stranded us in Mexico for almost 24 hours with no explanation at first, then it was a medical emergency, then it was that the flight crew were past their allowable hours, then it was beause they didn't have enough oxygen cannisters on the plane. All this through 2 Mexican women at the airport who were Air Canada reps, they spoke very little English and were obviously overwhelmed and very near tears from the constant questions and berating from some passengers. I later heard that Air Canada's motto is "We're not happy until you're not happy." LOL

Just read this very interesting item and thought of this discussion...

Southwest’s Christmas Mess Has Roots in Its Long Financial Success

The Dallas-based airline has always lagged behind in technology. Its leaders saw that as a feature, not a bug.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/southwest-airlines-christmas-cancellations/

This what I said in a comment above. It's described today as "5 days ago". To save the trouble, here's the key point:

" Southwest's problems, which it has been warned about by unions, employees and governmental agencies alike for some years now, is that it has not upgraded its internal operations software and any time there are even slight hiccups in weather or other flight disrupting causes, its operations crater and it takes many days to reset. ",